| Summary: | Dialogue, as the central constitutive element of drama, to a large extent also contributes
to delineating characters and to affirming their identity. This dissertation is an attempt to
investigate how dialogue creates identity in the drama Se se jeleng rre by J.M. Ntsime.
To achieve the purpose of this study, the characters of the three protagonists in this
drama are analysed and interpreted. Both cultural and personal identities are analysed
as manifestations of identity. The value of this study is that it makes readers aware of
and emphasises the importance of utterances both at a literary and at an ordinary
conversational level.
Though the semiotic approach is used in this investigation, the dissertation first takes a
cursory look at the theories of the origins of African theatre and the comparison
between the two traditions, i.e. African and Western theatre and performance. The role
of dialogue is traced back to its origin in performance, showing how it creates identity
both on stage and in the drama text. This research shows that the two traditions are not
drastically different since in both traditions performers exchange lines of words or
songs; in other words, they engage in verbal dialogue. The costumes and masks that
performers put on reveal some of their traits.
In chapter three instruments for the analysis of dramatic discourse are developed. Since
dramatic text is governed by dialogue, it was appropriate to use the theory of
pragmatics because pragmatics is the study of language in use and is concerned with
the context in which the sentences are uttered. Therefore, Searle's (1969) speech act
theories, Grice's conversational maxims, Elam's (2000) deixis theory and the politeness
principle have been applied to analyse the speech behaviour of characters. These
theories have helped to answer the last three questions of the study. The markers of
cultural identity which are used to analyse and interpret this drama are chieftainship,
lobola, sterility in marriage, naming and witchcraft. They are analysed and used to
interpret this drama. In the analysis and interpretation chapter, chapter 4, it has been found that to study
language is to treat language as action. As a result, the speech behaviour of Selebi,
Senwametsi and Mmapitsa has been analysed, including their deictic orientation.
In conclusion, this research has proven that character identity can be created through
verbal interaction, that is, through dialogue, since it could be used to illuminate both the
cultural and personal identities of the three protagonists in the drama. Most of the time
Selebi has been found to be orientated towards himself. This reveals him as, amongst
others, selfish and conscious of his authority as a chief. Senwametsi has been found to
be orientated towards her husband, Selebi, which reveals her as a wife of the chief who
is bothered by the way her husband treats her. On the other hand, Mrnapitsa has been
found to be orientated towards her interlocutors most of the time, which reveals her as a
person who likes to order others for the benefit of what she wants. This research also
implies further discourse analysis to see whether other relevant pragmatic principles
can be used to study character and identity. === Thesis (M.A. (African Languages))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
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